Where in the World Is Matt?

Matt Harding dancing in India, Arizona, Australia, and with Tiki's!

"Where in the world is the Matt" is the question... indeed! Portugal, India, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Iceland, The Netherlands, and Madagascar are just a few of the places you could find him. Matt went to all of these places and more, sponsored by Stride just to do this goofy dance. Why would our teacher show us a clip of a dance? Well, in honor of Geography Week she showed us a few clips of Matt and his dance and these clips allowed us a glimpse of the Five Themes of Geography. Each clip showed the city's Culture, Geography, Movement, Location, Human Interactions, and Regions.

Matt danced in many places- possibly 99% of the world! Anna and I wrote down Portugal, India, New Zealand, New Guinea, Mexico, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, Jordan, Solomon Islands, Yemen, Sweden, England, Fiji, Turkey, Japan, Argentina, Madagascar, Spain, Kuwait, Belgium, Israel, British Colombia, Tonga, Zanzibar, Mali, Morocco, USA, The Philippines, Singapore, and Korea, plus more!

Terrina thought that the most interesting place that Matt danced in was The Netherlands because of the poppy seeds. Anna thought that Christmas Island was the most interesting because of it's name and the hundreds of crabs that Matt was dancing with.

Besides the entertainment aspect of the videos it was educational as well. These clips showed each of the Five Themes of Geography which, evidently, will be used in the future (hence an upcoming project) and we were able to see the different cultures and geography/lands that the places had. Both of us enjoyed the video- some moments packed with irony others with embarrassing moments to the courage of dancing on a wedged rock!

90 Celebratory Years!! 1920-2010

The Sewell Belmont House

  The other day, a visitor came to our history class to talk to us about Alice Paul. Her name was Ms. Krum, and she wanted to help us learn more in depth about our class namesake. We also ran over to the Sewell- Belmont house.

This is the pin that Ms. Crum showed us

  We learned a lot more about Alice. For instance, she spent some years abroad in England helping suffragettes there. Also,on November 14, 1917, while Alice was in jail at Occaquan, many police officers beat and did much worse things to the women of all ages in the jail. That night was henceforth considered the Night of Terror.Another thing that interested us was that Alice Paul and many of her fellow suffragettes stayed in the Sewell Belmont House even after women got the vote and worked towards a higher level of equality.


You would wonder why did women or anyone in that matter go through  being thrown in inhumane facilities, beaten or worse, force fed, critiqued etc. just to vote. It makes you wonder what life was like for women before the right of suffrage came to be. Well actually it wasn't that hard. Women in that time were seen fragile, therefore not fit to participate in manual labor, that would be up to the men of the house. If you put yourself in place of a women before the suffragette movement your day would be bland. You would probably clean the house and help the children with whatever they need, and maybe run a few errands. Men always ran the house, so anything they'd say goes. You could conclude that women were sort of figure heads or even trophies in that day in time. Well of course women got the right to vote (thanks Alice Paul and others). Although Alice Paul had a few cheat sheets up her sleeve. Her hunger strike in America was actually a strategy picked up while in London. Also while in London she learned how to publicly deliver a speech, and while she didn't do much speaking in London that was sure to help when she returned to the states.


  Alice Paul was chosen for our class name because of her hard work, dedication, perseverance, her being stubborn etc. With our further knowledge I believe Alice Paul is a good name because of her uppity ways (word they would use in her time) and leadership. I think she was uppity because anyone who would lead a picket on the white house, or anyone to speak up on something that many people disapproved is uppity. With so many men that didn't approve of what she was doing, I think we could all take a lesson form that. Just becuase veryone thinks what you're doing is just wrongs or stupid or crazy doesn't mean you shoudl stop. Also her ability to lead is another thing. With our class going off to high school I believe this is an important trait. Leadership is what makes us stand out in a crowd which will become important in high school. Besides her good qualities I'd like to recognize her shyness. As mentioned above Paul didn't like public speaking very much, but with her improvement and bravery she made a voice so loud that swept the nation, and got women the right to vote. This is the kind of work that we should want to put in, and while the final product may not be perfect (which in Paul's case it was!), it shows great improvement. =)


   The Sewell-Belmont house has always been there, just not as noticeable. It doesn't have a grand staircase or anything to make it stand out much. Although if someone told you the history behind it, well then you'd be intrigued. I've walked past the building before and I've never given it a thought. If I had to guess what it was I'd say some kind of historical building but I'd only know that because of the old fashioned red brick. To conclude the Bellmont house isn't very eye popping, or noticeable, but when you are privy to what took place there and who was there, it would be very interesting and exciting to go inside.

Sandra Day O'Conner... Here and in Person!

Justice Sandra Day O' Conner

Sandra Day O'Conner recently retired from one of the most prestigious jobs you can have... She was a Justice on the Supreme Court! Not only that, but she was the first ever woman to be one. Before she joined the Judiciary Branch she was active in the Executive Branch, while serving in the Legislative Branch as a state senator in AZ. She decided to stray from her dream of ranching to become a lawyer. Unfortunately, she was turned down from certain law firms because of her gender. She didn't let that deter her, and later was elected as Justice by President Ronald Reagan. In 2001, Ladies Home Journal ranked Justice O'Conner as the 2nd most powerful woman in America. In 2004 she was ranked the sixth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. Although these accomplishments would last anyone a lifetime and more (much like the job of Justice in the Supreme Court) she decided to retire.


The reason that we wanted to brief you on Justice O'Conner is that she was actually here in the flesh! It was fun, and we tested out some of the games that are featured on iCivics.com. The games are very fun, some addicting, and they still teach you about the government and how it runs. After we tried some of the games she sat down with us to answer some of our questions. Anna asked two questions. To her question about which of the presidents she had met was her favorite, she replied that Ronald Reagan was, because he was funny and had great stories. The case that was the hardest for her to decide was the one concerning taxes, because it didn't interest her and she hadn't previously known much concerning them. Terrina asked what her proudest moment was. She answered the day she got sworn in. All her family was there, and she was indeed proud to be sworn in as a Justice. Contrary to what we might think, she hadn't immediately agreed to be Justice. She was honored and excited about being the first woman, but was concerned that she might also make a bad name for women following her, and therefore also the last woman to serve. We really enjoyed the time that she spent with us, answering our questions and watching us play the games. She was so full of energy. Terrina thinks that she was much like her description of Reagen, easy to talk to and funny. This was an excellent experience. Thank you Justice O'Conner for your time, and please know we enjoyed learning about you, and your conversation! :)


One of the things that she had stressed was education. She said that she studied very hard in school, and when she was Justice working on those cases. One of the things she said that got our attention was that we should all strive to be something that was important to us personally. The main ideas that we got out of this wonderful experience was to use your education to your advantage to get where you want to be, doing what you want to do! =)

Bella Coola Tribe- Terrina's Post!!!

The Bella Coola Tribe (Nuxtalk People) lived in British, Columbia (NW). They were called  "The Salmon People". They worshipped Tatau, the creator of all things.

Kwakiutl Tribe- Anna's Post!!

The Northwest Coast's geography affected their lifestyle. Living by the ocean, they ate mostly fish. Tribes used cedar plank longhouses, because cedar trees were available.

Terrina

    


And now Sepia... Haha! James and Fabian are in the background!

 

Hello Bloggers and Bloggees! Due to the fact that I really appreciate people who don’t give out their life stories, and goals upon meeting them for the first time, so I will return the favor. My name is Terrina, but I prefer Maddy. I think it’s only appropriate to tell you the basics (requirements for grade). My role model is my little sister. Terrnika is more responsible  than me and without her my derriere would be permanently scarred. She has that “logical thinking”,



Anna and I having a little to much fun with Photobooth!



and “common sense” that everyone has been telling me about. So far the highlight of my life has been being able to visit Niagara Falls in Canada and conquering my fear of Ferris Wheels at Six Flags. I hope my future holds money, and “true happiness” although money and happiness fall in the same category in my book.  
    

  





Anna

Terrina and I experimenting with Photo Booth =)

And now Pop Art...

I am Anna. I would like for people to know more than just my name, unlike my associate. I love movies (Titanic, The Secret Life of Bees, and She’s the Man being my favorites). I absolutely enjoy reading, though I have no one favorite book. My favorite season is fall, and my favorite time of day is dinnertime. I look up to my parents and my step mom, because they seem to have done all right for themselves, and they raised me, so they must be spectacular ☺. The highlight of my life (so far) has been writing this blog. I’m joking, but it’s important to make your readers feel special. In the future, I look forward to graduating from an Ivy League School, preferably far, far away, and becoming a bizillionaire. I hope you enjoy reading It’s All Been Done Before!

We Are... Alice Paul

Alice Paul was a woman suffragette. Suffragette seems like a funny word huh? Well there's nothing funny about what the suffragettes did or what they stood for. Alice Paul and her colleagues formed the NWP (National Women's Party). NWP fought for women's rights and equality. They used tactics such as picketing, strikes, protests, parades, mass meetings, etc. They were given media coverage, and were included in Suffarage Weekly. To Paul and the NWP picketing was no stranger, but in 1917 they took it to the extreme. The NWP staged a picket on the White House! This stunt ended them up in the "big house". They were incarcerated at Occoquan Workhouse (VA). Their protesting didn't stop. They went on a hunger strike! The hunger strike is one of my favorites, because like Anna I too enjoy dinner time, and I'm sure you do to. To give up eating I think it just shows how stubborn and persistent women can be! :) Anyways, because they absolutely refused to eat they were forced raw eggs, and the like through tubes that were in their nose! In 1920 all the hard work of the NWP paid off; women were finally permitted to vote! I think our class is similar to Paul and NWP because we are very stubborn, maybe not for the same reasons but none the less stubborn. Although we aren't as dedicated, hardworking, persevering, and motivated as Paul and her Suffragettes I think these are qualities that are worth having. We should hope to be like the Suffragettes and Paul. In fact, We Are... Alice Paul!